Alick Nkhata

Alick Nkhata ensured that Zambia’s traditional music endured for later generations. Born to a Tonga father and a Bembe mother, he spent his entire career producing and documenting the country’s indigenous sounds. While posted in Burma throughout World War II, he launched his professional path upon returning home, serving in 1946 as a field recording engineer for ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey. He subsequently joined the Central African Broadcasting System (CABS), where he supervised sessions of traditional repertoire and eventually advanced to deputy director of broadcasting as well as director of Zambian cultural services. Parallel to these duties, Nkhata maintained an active performing life; the quartet he formed in the late 1940s grew into the Lusaka Radio Band, which appeared regularly on Zambian radio throughout the 1950s. He maintained this dual commitment until 1974, when he “retired” to his farm in order to concentrate on singing and composing fresh material. Four years afterward, South Rhodesian troops shot him during a cross-border operation aimed at Zimbabwean freedom fighters.

In 1991 the 17-track collection Shalapo and Other Love Songs: Original Zambian Hits From the 1950s gathered his best-known recordings; Etna characterized the set as “soothing vocal harmonies and prominent guitar or piano accompaniment.”